Hurt and Healing
by DreamsInColor8
Summary: Steph married Joe two years ago now he wants a divorce. She gets her old apartment back. Ranger finds a poem Steph wrote. Babe fic.


_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

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Steph's POV

Tears were streaming down my face as I ran out of the house. How could he do this to me? To us? I thought that we were happy together. I thought he had gotten over his problems. Apparently not, he only got better at hiding them. I hit speed dial two, Ranger.

"Yeah babe?" he asked. We were still friends but more distant since Joe and I had gotten married.

"Can you come get me?" I asked, trying to keep the sobbing out of my voice.

"Of course," he said, "you at the cop's?" I nodded before I remembered he couldn't see me.

"Yes," I managed to get out.

"Be there in five." Click. Call ended. Behind me I heard the door open and close.

"Stephanie! Come back here and let's talk this over! All I want is a divorce! I know you are still in love with that bastard, Manoso!" he yelled. I heard through the grapevine that Joe's been with Terri. Then when I come home at the end of the day Joe tells me he wants a divorce. I shouldn't care, but I do. I was in love with Ranger but he didn't want a relationship. I never did anything with Ranger once Joe and I had gotten married. I was always faithfully. I loved Joe so when he asked, I said yes. Ranger pulled to the curb and I ran to the passenger side. I closed the door and I heard a, "babe."

"Just drive," I told him, not facing him.

"Where to?" he asked. I had no freakin' clue. I couldn't go back to my old apartment since I had given it up when I married Joe.

"Alright then," he said sighing. He sped off and we ended up at Haywood.

"I can get you your old apartment back if you want, or you can stay with me," he said, "your choice."

"Old apartment," I told him, not daring meet his eyes.

"Alright then," he said, "let me go make a few calls, you can stay here."

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Ranger's POV

I got a call from Steph and I immediately went to get her. She had been married to the cop for two years now. It seemed like everything was going good. I had heard rumors that Morelli and Gilman were having an affair but it was never confirmed. When I got to their house Steph was outside and I could make out the tears falling. When she got in the car, I didn't ask what happened. I knew she would tell me when she was ready and I didn't want to push. I made a few calls inside and got her apartment back. I went back down to the car.

"I got your apartment back. You probably won't want to sleep there tonight so you can stay here. We have an empty apartment on four but you're welcome to stay on seven," I suggested. I hoped she would chose seven.

"He wants a divorce," she told me, "he's been with Terri." She flung herself at me and I caught her. She was crying.

"I don't know what I did," she sobbed. I rubbed her back and whispered, "you didn't do anything. Morelli's just a damn fool and can't see what he had." I wondered if she would go back to him if she had the chance. I hoped not. I may have told her a lot of shit in the past because I didn't think I would lose her, but I did. I loved her and I hoped once she was ready, we could give us a chance.

~*~*~*~

Three weeks later

Steph and I had been spending a lot of time together while her divorce was going through. I let myself into her apartment around five o'clock and saw a paper lying on the counter. I picked it up and saw it was a poem, and it was written in Steph's writing.

_How could you?_

_You ripped my heart out_

_as it was still beating._

_They say love and marriage_

_is forever._

_They lied._

_To me. _

_To us all. _

_You don't love me_

_and it's hard to believe you once did._

_What you did to me_

_it hurts to think about._

_It hurts just to_

_breathe_

_the ache in my chest_

_becoming harder _

_and harder_

_to ignore._

_I loved you with all of my heart_

_it was yours _

_and so was my soul. _

_But now I want_

_them back._

_It's hard to take them _

_back when I still love you._

_The pain you caused me_

_unbearable._

_I hate how I still love you_

_even when you don't love me._

_It's a joke._

_A sick, sadistic_

_joke. _

_I remember when we said our vows_

_your smile when you slid the ring on my finger._

_And then back to now_

_when you demand_

_the ring back._

_I don't know why it hurts so much_

_it's just a ring._

_Yet, it's so much more._

_It's my heart_

_and the heart you_

_had once given to me._

_The one that was now_

_surely but steadily_

_breaking._

_From your _

_carelessness for me._

_Now I'm sick but _

_you're no where to be found. _

_Those vows mean_

_nothing to you _

_now. _

As soon as I finished I knew she was talking about Morelli and how she felt. I wanted to be the one to be there for her and heal those cracks. Steph came out from her bedroom.

"Ranger, what are you doing here?" she asked looking at me and back at the paper.

"Babe, you wrote this?" I asked, holding the paper up. She nodded. She came towards me.

"I also wrote this one," she said, pulling a piece of paper out of a notebook that was on the counter.

_You heal the hurt_

_that was caused._

_you make me_

_laugh when I want to cry_

_you hold me up_

_when I'm about to crumble._

_You are what keeps me_

_together._

_If it weren't for you_

_I wouldn't _

_be where I am today._

_Because of you_

_I am strong_

_because of you_

_I dare to love again,_

_I dare to love you,_

_only you _

"Only you Ranger," she whispered. I couldn't speak. She loved me.

"I know what you said before," she started, unable to finish.

"Forget it babe. Forget all of it," I told her, "I love you. Always have, always will."

"But what about what you said," she asked, confused.

"I was foolish, I didn't want to get hurt, but I did anyways. When you married the cop it was like the world stopped turning. I didn't want to get up in the morning. I thought I would never lose you, then I did."

"I've loved you Ranger, but I thought you didn't want a relationship, so I married him," she said, putting her arms around me.

"I love you babe," I whispered in her ear.

"I love you too, Ranger," she said. I leaned back and kissed her.

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A/N: Just something I thought about it. The first poem is called Vows and the second is called Only You. I wrote them both. Tell me what you thought, reviews appreciated. =)


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